


Supply and Demand

by Cathryn



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Offscreen character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-09
Updated: 2012-03-09
Packaged: 2017-11-01 16:24:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/358888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cathryn/pseuds/Cathryn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything has changed, including what it means to be a superhero.  <i>Doctor Who</i>/<i>Iron Man</i> movieverse crossover; takes place during the year that wasn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Supply and Demand

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written and posted in May 2008.

Tony hasn't heard from Nick Fury in months, and can only assume he's dead. Most of them are, anyway. Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Reed and Sue Richards . . . they all died within days after Saxon gave the Earth to the Toclafane. Tony himself is alive only because the suit can stand up to the best the Toclafane can throw at him.

And that's about all it can do. Tony got hold of some information about one of the Toclafane being felled by lightning, but it might as well have been a meteor strike for all the good it does him. He tried and tried in the beginning, but he couldn't find a way to let the suit harness that much energy without it either exploding or simply frying him alive inside. He gave up after Pepper and Jarvis forced him to see reason - even if he could kill a Toclafane, what difference would it make? There are too many. Billions. To say he'd be outnumbered is the understatement of the fucking millennium.

He didn't let that stop him, though. He couldn't. He just changed his methods. The space he once kept for being Iron Man and all that entailed is underground, locked up tight, secure as it gets. Converting it into a large community living space was Pepper's idea. They worked out the logistics, of getting people there safely and keeping them safe, then they put it into action. He went out in the suit and Pepper in a van, and he kept the Toclafane busy while she herded people into the vehicle. It had worked for a while - longer than Tony expected it to, really, since spraying the Toclafane down with flamethrowers wasn't the most subtle diversionary tactic in the book. He hadn't expected to avoid Saxon's attention for long. He took all the extra measures he could to protect his small group of refugees, and Pepper, too, as much as she would allow at least. 

It turned out he didn't have to. One day there was a broadcast, with Saxon looking into the camera and saying Tony's name as though they were speaking face-to-face. He smilingly praised Tony's courage and ingenuity, then said, "I think that deserves something, don't you?" The feed changed to show the distant outline of Japan as Saxon explained that he'd spent the last few days scouring the world for the remaining supplies of Stark Industries weapons. "I found quite a few, and you know, I never would have thought to look if you hadn't brought yourself to my attention. And now I can't help but wonder - what would happen if I used them all at once?"

"No," Tony told the screen, or thought he did, but Saxon continued with bright cheer,

"Let's find out, shall we?"

There was an endless heartbeat of silence, then Japan exploded into flames.

Saxon picked up his narration. "The Japanese are very honorable people, Mr Stark. Well, they _were_. I'm sure they would applaud your bravery, if they still could. And I'm sure there are more of your lovely weapons lying around just waiting to be used, if you start feeling brave again."

Tony just barely made it to the bathroom before he threw up. He stayed in there for a long time. Then he went to his office, where he's been for the past week, sometimes going through his data in hopes of finding something new, sometimes sleeping, but mostly making a serious dent in his liquor collection. He tries, a couple times, to visit the small colony downstairs, but all he can see when he thinks of them is the image of Japan, burning in his fire. Pepper brings him meals, which he eats only because he knows how hard it's getting to find food. She tries to tell him bits of news, but he shuts her down. He doesn't want to know. He can't even look her in the eye.

A week to the day after Japan burns, Martha Jones shows up on his doorstep. He's heard her name a time or two, distant rumors of someone he assumed didn't really exist. He wouldn't believe it's her if not for the fact that she single-handedly avoided the Toclafane, and managed to get inside without being detected. That gets his attention in a hurry. The fact that she's gorgeous doesn't slip past unnoticed, either. She sits without being invited, saying she heard there were a lot of people here and she has a story to tell. She's absolute ice, not worried in the least about being turned down, and it's that more than anything that makes Tony say,

"How 'bout you run it past me first. I'll even feed you while you do it."

Martha downs her meal with the speed of someone who's used to having to pick up and run on a moment's notice, then starts talking. She explains about the story she's been telling around the world, the way it all has to tie together, and how it relies on the man Saxon's been keeping on the Valiant as a pet. Tony thinks it all sounds like the longest long shot he ever heard of, but the role of the Archangel Network doesn't surprise him. He'd used it for a little while, but switched services when Jarvis had found some fucked up thing he couldn't figure out in Archangel's frequency. Tony had notified SHIELD, just in case, and last he'd heard they'd been hitting roadblock after roadblock trying to investigate. Funny how being right isn't really cheering him up.

"Okay," he says when she's finished. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you need to. Feel free to spread your story around. I don't see as it'll do any harm. These poor bastards could use something to hope for."

"You don't think it'll work," Martha says.

"Not a chance in hell," Tony says bluntly. He considers. "Well. Maybe one chance in hell."

"That's all I need," Martha answers. Her tone is matter-of-fact and her face calm and poised, without so much as the faintest flicker of doubt in her eyes. Tony looks at her and mentally upgrades the odds to two chances in hell.

"There's one other reason I came here," Martha continues. "The part of the plan that'll get me where I need to be when this happens." She looks him in the eye. "The part that only you and I know about. I need to control exactly when and how this information gets leaked or we're all done for."

"I can keep a secret. Shoot," Tony says.

"I need a gun. Or something that looks like one. And I thought, who better to ask than Tony Stark?" She explains the plan to fool Saxon with a fake weapon, and the need for a realistic-looking prop. When she's done, Tony finds himself smiling, wide and genuine, for the first time since Japan.

"Jesus, you've got balls," he says admiringly. She raises an eyebrow and he shrugs unapologetically. "I'll make you the best fake gun you ever saw, and I'll throw in some data I've got on how to kill a Toclafane. Don't get too excited, it's next to useless, but it's yours if you want it." He pauses for just a second to take in the pleased look on her face, then continues, "I'll have my assistant get you situated - I assume you want to talk to the others as soon as you can?"

Martha nods and Tony calls Pepper over the in-house comm. Martha gets up, then pauses. "Tony."

"Yeah."

"Don't blame yourself for Japan. He would have done it anyway."

"I -" He stops, swallows, tries again. "Yeah. I know."

She gives him a small, sad smile, then turns to follow Pepper out of the room. Pepper is kind enough to refrain from addressing Tony as he stares at his desk, but her voice as she speaks to Martha is friendlier than he's heard her sound in some time.

Tony takes a deep breath before he can let himself sink too far down. He has a fake gun to design, one that has to look alien and real if it's supposed to help save the world. It'll probably all come to nothing, but that's no reason to give it less than his full attention. First, though, he'd like to watch Martha talk to the refugees, see how much of what she told him gets passed along in the official campfire version. See if they wonder the same thing he does: What can one girl from England possibly do that he and the others couldn't?

That, he thinks, is why the gun has to be perfect. Because he wants very badly to know the answer.


End file.
